GW 14 – Ones to Watch

Matt: Last weekend produced our second-highest Perfect 7 of the season so far (186), but not a single player managed to reach three figures…..visits to ‘Club 100’ really have been at a premium so far this season! In GW 14 we have our third ‘International Week’, so a return to the fold for our old favourites/enemies (delete as appropriate!) from the National North & South Leagues. There’s always drama when these teams get called up for duty! There’s also plenty of action in our regular leagues too, so another highly entertaining gameweek lies ahead. Here’s a couple of teams you might want to take a punt on…..

• Queen’s Park v Clyde. This Scottish League One fixture pits second top Queen’s Park against second bottom Clyde, in a match where goals shouldn’t be too hard to come by judging by recent scorelines involving these sides. The home team’s last four games have served up 18 goals, 10 of which were scored by The Spiders, including a couple of 6 and 7 goal thrillers! Last weekend they chucked away victory at their Firhill Stadium by conceding a 95th minute equaliser against East Fife, so Laurie Ellis’ men will be keen to recover from that with a solid win here. I’ve previously tipped Queen’s Park already this season and they conjured up a tidy 3 goal return against Dumbarton, so I’m hoping for more of the same on Saturday – especially as they’ve scored 3 goals on four separate occasions in League One over the past month or so. Clyde, on the other hand, are struggling to find the net, scoring just three times over the past five games, but unfortunately for their followers they’re also shipping them at an alarming rate at the other end! 14 goals conceded in five games means The Bully Wee are winless since September, taking just a solitary point since! Matches between these two clubs are usually high-scoring affairs, with 13 goals shared between them over their previous four encounters, so I’m predicting more of the same here.
• Kidderminster Harriers v AFC Telford Utd. Those of you who follow these tips will, aside from cursing me/them on a fairly regular basis, know that I frequently delve into the ‘lesser-known’ leagues and cups whenever we have them available, so you’ll not be shocked to see a team from the NLN getting plucked out this week. Kidderminster knocked National League high-flyers Grimsby Town out of the FA Cup last weekend, so will head into this fixture in excellent spirits. The Carpetmen sit a couple of points and a couple of places outside of the play-off spots but, with games in hand on most of their rivals, they know a win here is likely to leave them very well placed in the run up to the busy December schedule. Prior to that superb win against Grimsby, Harriers had thrashed Spennymoor 4-0 and Bradford Park Avenue 5-1 in their previous two matches at Aggborough, so the home advantage should come to the fore again here, against a Telford outfit who recently lost six games on the bounce, leaving them stuck in one of the two relegation spots – something I don’t think anybody would have predicted at the start of the season. The Bucks have recovered to a degree, climbing out of the bottom two on goal difference, but last weekend’s 3-2 loss at Bradford Park Avenue brought their three-game unbeaten run to a swift halt. They’ve also been beaten, heavily beaten indeed, at Boston Utd, Darlington and Alfreton Town already this season, and have managed just two clean sheets in all competitions this entire season. Kidderminster’s forwards will be eyeing up that stat with interest, just as I’m doing here! Good luck to you all!